SEPTEMBER 2, 2015 | LONDON, ON - First Nations youth from across Ontario gathered in London this week to learn about healthy relationships, traditional teachings, and safety in their communities. The Raise Her Up gathering, hosted by the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians (AIAI), aimed to empower boys and...
Annual gathering explores traditional role of elders in guiding First Nations
More than 100 elders from First Nations across Ontario gathered in Wahta Mohawks territory this week to discuss priority issues impacting their communities. The annual Elders Gathering, held over three days, gave participants the opportunity to share their knowledge with political leaders, and to explore the role they play in...
Batchewana First Nation: “Commemorating the Return of our Ancestors”
The Batchewana First Nation (BFN) is getting ready to celebrate the repatriation of their ancestral remains returning to their homeland. In 2010 the Batchewana First Nation and Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians worked in collaboration to bring the remains of their Native Ancestors from the Smithsonian Institution back to rest...
Caldwell First Nation Election Results
In accordance with their Election Code, which requires Caldwell First Nation to hold an election for Chief and four Councillors every four years, the election was held Saturday, June 27, 2015. The voting poll was opened at 10:00 a.m. and closed at 6:00 p.m. The mail-in ballots were confirmed as...
Ending family violence a priority for First Nations – conference explores traditional paths to community wellness
First Nation leaders and frontline workers from across Ontario gathered at the Oneida Nation of the Thames Community Centre this week to explore paths to community wellness in response to staggering rates of violence against Indigenous women. “This event was really about finding ways to end violence in our families,”...
Education is key to reconciliation
To the children we lost, the ones who survived, and the families who were never the same without them, today we honour and recognize your stories and your truths. For more than 100 years, our children were taken from us. Our communities and families suffered as 150,000 little boys and...
Federal Budget leaves First Nations behind again
Indigenous communities are being left behind yet again by Stephen Harper’s conservative government. In his 2015 budget, he offers extensive tax cuts for the wealthiest 15 per cent of tax payers, while in the same breath balances the books by shortchanging First Nations on vital programs and services. Notably absent...
Letter to the Editor: “First Nations need real reform” by Lorne Gunter
In a recent editorial, Lorne Gunter argued in your paper that Ottawa has continued to fail First Nations in their continued efforts to “break the cycle of bad governance” in our communities. This article has a valid point in that the Band Council system in many cases is not working,...
Broken promises and more broken promises: First Nations education left behind yet again
Last year, the federal government introduced its First Nations control of First Nations Education Bill (Bill C-33) to substantial backlash from Indigenous communities across the country. The deceivingly named bill faced criticisms for its unnecessarily intrusive government oversight, transferring liability to First Nations without transferring authority and financing, and didn’t...
First Nation Treaty Rights Affirmed in the Gargantua Harbour Trial
Today Justice Logan dismissed 20 of the 22 counts in the Gargantua Harbour (Nanabozhung) matter involving Batchewana First Nation (BFN), and Chief Dean Sayers. The trial has been ongoing since charges were laid by the MNR in 2008 when the First Nation attempted to reconstruct an access road to their traditional territory for cultural...